soft like snow
by czqy
Summary: It's Kageyama's birthday. His day is mostly like any other—he goes to practice, and he hangs out with Hinata. Except, it starts snowing, and that brings along another change.


**A/N:** happy birthday kags, ily

(also I haven't been in the snow since like Jan 2014, so apologies if any descriptions are inaccurate lmao)

hope you guys enjoy :)

* * *

A vibration jolts Kageyama awake. He blinks a few times, rubs at his eyes, then slowly turns onto his other side, and winces at the brightness. He rubs a hand over his face, and pulls up his blanket with the other to shield himself from the light. He must've forgotten to put his phone on 'Do Not Disturb'. He buries his face into his pillow, debating whether he should look at the notification or not. Ultimately curiosity gets the best of him, so he reaches out an arm and blindly feels for his device.

 **[12:01 AM] From my favourite spiker ⁽͑˙˚̀ᵕ˚́˙⁾̉:**

happy birthday kageyama!

 **[12:03 AM] To my favourite spiker ⁽͑˙˚̀ᵕ˚́˙⁾̉:**

Boke

I was sleeping

Hinata-boke

But thanks

Kageyama puts his phone on 'Do Not Disturb' and places it face down on his pillow, but he doesn't turn the screen off. He knows Hinata is going to reply quickly. And surely enough—

 **[12:03 AM] From my favourite spiker ⁽͑˙˚̀ᵕ˚́˙⁾̉:**

meet me at the park at 6!

i have plans (๑˃̵ᴗ˂̵)

Kageyama switches his phone off after reading the message and puts it back on top of his headboard. He groans; he has to get up earlier now because the dumbass wants to meet up beforehand. It's not like they don't already do that anyways. Either way, he changes his alarm, then promptly falls back asleep.

* * *

When Kageyama wakes up again, it's still dark outside. He scrunches his eyes, he doesn't want to move. It's cold, but his alarm keeps blaring, so he snakes an arm from the under warm covers to shut it off. He lies in bed for a moment longer before finally getting up.

After opening his curtains, Kageyama finds that snow has fallen overnight. It excites Kageyama. He thinks of how it'll feel under his feet, the satisfying _crunch_ it will make.

He eats breakfast, bundles up, then heads out. He yawns the whole way to the park—he feels super sleepy (he's going to yell at Hinata for causing this later)—and watches his exhales come out like smoke. He continues doing this just for fun, and sees if he can make any patterns, but stops when he gets close to his destination. He doesn't want Hinata to spot him, and call him childish.

Actually, Hinata is doing it too. Kageyama finds the shorter boy sitting on a swing, breathing out with his face towards the sky. Kageyama is about to call out a greeting, when Hinata starts making this noise. It confuses Kageyama, he doesn't know what the boy is doing. At first he thinks it might be his weird way of trying to communicate, but he looks lost in his own world, so he doesn't think he's noticed his presence yet. Once Kageyama listens for a moment longer, he realises the sound resembles a growl. And then it registers that Hinata is imitating a dragon. He tries to stifle a laugh, but fails, and that's when his cover is blown. Hinata immediately whips his head around, his eyes go wide when he sees Kageyama, then he topples off the swing.

Kageyama actually winces a bit, because the ground is probably frozen, meaning it must hurt more than it usually would. He jogs towards Hinata, and holds out a hand for him to take. He grabs it, rubbing the side of his head with his other hand, but grumbles the whole time.

"Bakageyama. After I try to do something nice for your birthday this is how you repay me?"

"It's your own fault, idiot. Besides, all you've done is wake me up in the middle of the night and disrupt my sleep." Kageyama glares, he gets grumpy when he's tired.

"Oh. I guess I did," Hinata looks sheepish. "Sorry about that. But I will make up for it today, I swear! You don't have plans after practice, do you?"

"No, but I have to get home before dinner."

"Okay. Well you're spending the day with me!"

"Yeah, of course," Kageyama tilts his head, "what else would I do?" It's not like he has many other friends to hang out with, if at all. He and Hinata almost always spend Saturdays together anyways. It's convenient because they will both be at practice, and they usually stay behind longer to train some more. Their desire to play volleyball is almost never satisfied, and they could go on forever if they weren't limited by other factors. After they're forced to leave the gym, sometimes they'll find some other place to practise, and other times they'll just hang out.

It's weird, when Kageyama thinks about it sometimes. His personality has changed so much in the span of just over half a year—he gets along with his teammates, and he really likes being a part of a team. He likes working together with everyone. He also likes the people themselves. Despite how he finds it annoying sometimes, he likes how they get unruly—it's different to all the order he'd been used to. He likes how they don't seem to care about his past either, that they gave him a chance. And… there's something else he likes too.

He looks over at it now. He sees the orange hair that's so bright it just about serves as a light in this dimness, and the person it's attached to. He doesn't know when he developed feelings for Hinata, exactly. He can't figure out when the lines started blurring, because by the time he discerned the difference, he was already in too deep.

What he does know, though, is that Hinata makes him feel invincible on the court and off it. There's no one else who hits his sets the same way, and no one else he'd rather toss for. He's the one who led to Kageyama honing his skill even further, who brought a new challenge for him. He's also the one who showed Kageyama he could have fun, even without a volleyball. Kageyama has gone out more this year than he ever has his entire life, probably, and it's not as bad as Kageyama thought it'd be. Hinata takes him to places he's never been to before—arcades where they compete with each other, movie theatres where they watch a variety of films (Kageyama likes the scary ones most, even though he basically has his eyes closed the whole time, because Hinata will cling onto him like a lifeline), little cafés and other restaurants where they feast until their stomachs threaten to burst. Sometimes they'll simply do nothing; they'll just sit and talk, or chase each other around. Regardless of what they do, though, Kageyama always has the best time. Because he's with Hinata, and Hinata is like the sun, warming Kageyama even on the coldest of days.

"Oi, what're you staring at?"

Kageyama's startled by Hinata's voice. He must've gotten lost in his thoughts, because when he comes back to reality, Hinata is watching him closely, pouting. He has his arms crossed over his chest, cheeks puffed out slightly, and he's probably trying to appear angry or intimidating, but Kageyama finds it cute. He turns his head away, and wonders whether he can pass off the redness on his face as being from the cold and not from his spiker.

"Nothing. What're we going to do before practice, anyways?" While Hinata makes Kageyama feel warm, there's no denying the fact that it _is_ cold, and he's starting to feel it now after sitting still for a while.

"Um," Hinata hesitates, and Kageyama sighs. He knows what this means. "I didn't exactly plan for this. We could just sit?"

"What," Kageyama tries not to sound pissed, even though he kind of is, "in the cold?"

"You have a scarf!" Hinata exclaims, "and beanie!"

Kageyama makes a disgruntled sound, but doesn't protest any further.

The two of them end up staying until just after the sun starts to rise. They swing on the swings for a bit, until it gets too cold to handle, then run laps around the park. When the sun peeks from the horizon, they start heading to school.

They walk side by side in a comfortable silence. When they're about halfway, Kageyama starts playing with his breath again. Hinata stares at him a little shocked, but goes back to doing it too. They end up comparing who can exhale the most, and who can reach the highest point in the sky (Hinata says this one is unfair, obviously Kageyama is going to win, he's taller! He still puts up a fight though, and actually gets close).

Afterwards, Hinata stops in his steps. Kageyama turns to face him. Hinata is backlit by the sun, making it look like he's glowing. When he beams, everything only seems to get brighter, and Kageyama has to squint, slightly.

"Happy birthday, Bateyama," he says, and then he just continues walking. Kageyama is left dazed. It's not even anything big, but the way Hinata said it, light and soft, like the snow underneath his feet, takes his breath away. He needs a moment before catching up, and when Hinata questions this, he says it's because he made him look into the stupid sun.

Except, looking into the sun wouldn't make his heart beat like this, would it?

* * *

When Kageyama walks into the gym, he's greeted by a chorus of birthday wishes from the team. He bows and thanks them all, then goes to warm up. During that time, though, he feels like something is off. The second-years keep looking at him like they want something, and the third-years are being extra smiley and nice. He tries to tell himself he's imagining things, but when Tsukishima (him, of all people!) brings him his bottle without being asked—which is what makes it weirder, because he wouldn't do it even if he was—he has to say something.

"Um," as soon as he opens his mouth the entire gym's attention turns to him. It's scary. "Is something wrong? I feel like everyone is treating me differently." A lot of them turn away then, as if they're suddenly shy. It's their vice-captain who replies.

"Well," Sugawara-san shrugs, "we just thought that we should do something special since it's your birthday. We were also considering not making practice as intense as usual, so we could celebrate. Winter holidays are about to start, and it could be the last opportunity we have at a break before the Spring High, so it'd work out nicely."

Ennoshita-san chimes in after. "Yeah, we wanted to have a whole get together today, but seeing as you already had plans, we thought it was the least we could do." The second-year's words make his face heat up. He never would've imagined that they all wanted to celebrate his birthday, it makes him bashful. As for the reason why they can't do so… Kageyama looks at Hinata then, but he's staring down at his shoes. He thinks he can see a blush on his cheeks.

"No," Kageyama ends up saying. It comes out harsher than intended, because everyone on the team is taken aback, and Tanaka looks like he's about to pick a fight. He quickly explains, "I mean, thank you for the thought, but it's fine if we keep everything as normal. In fact, it'd be nice if it was intense."

"Huh?!" Nishinoya-san comes close and looks up at him, "don't you want to have some fun?"

This puzzles Kageyama. He frowns. "But volleyball is fun?" he says in return.

Nishinoya-san laughs out loud at this, then pats Kageyama on the back. "You're right. Well, happy birthday, Kageyama."

Their captain then claps to gain everyone's attention, and goes over what they're going to be doing next. Before they begin, Kageyama thinks he hears Tsukishima mutter 'he's crazy' under his breath. When he turns with the intention to stare daggers at him, he's already walked away. Yamaguchi catches his eyes though, and he waves and smiles, wishing him a happy birthday. Kageyama nods back. Yamaguchi's not all that bad.

* * *

The rest of practice passes uneventfully. After they're done with drills, Kageyama and Hinata practise their quick, Kageyama does his jump serves a few times, then he joins in on various combinations others are testing. It is a bit more intense than usual, which he loves, and he makes sure to thank Sawamura-san as they clean up. He and Hinata end up being the first to leave—their upperclassmen kick them out, saying they should go have fun.

Once they're outside, they instinctively take the road that leads towards their homes. Kageyama tries to figure out what Hinata has planned, but the boy has barely said a word since they left, and he doesn't seem to want to look at Kageyama.

"Hey," Kageyama stops in the middle of the road, "what's up with you? Why are you acting all nervous and shit?"

Hinata mumbles something Kageyama can't decipher, and he asks him to speak up.

"I said, I am!"

"What? How come?!"

"I don't know!" Hinata throws his hands up, "maybe because it's your birthday, and I want it to be good?"

"But it will be. Regardless of what we do, I'm going to have a good time. I've never really done anything before anyways, so it's not like I have a lot to compare to."

"That's why it has to be good…" Hinata's voice comes out softer than before.

"Really, Hinata," Kageyama tries again, "it doesn't have to be a big deal."

Hinata looks like he's debating something in his head. A moment later, he takes Kageyama's hand and leads them elsewhere. Hinata walks ahead, while Kageyama follows. Kageyama looks at where their hands are still linked, and it makes him feel warm all over. Hinata's grip is steady, but not too strong. Their hands seem to fit together perfectly.

They end up in front of a store they've been to many times before. A while ago, he and Hinata set out to find the place that sold the best buns. Kageyama ate so many that day, he couldn't stand the sight of one for weeks afterwards. But after that, whenever they had the time, he and Hinata would come back here. Just the thought of biting into one of their curry pork buns has his mouth watering. Hinata lets go of him (Kageyama may have chased after the movement, mourning the loss of contact, but nobody has to know), enters the store, and comes back out holding a bag of steaming food. Kageyama reaches for it, and Hinata passes the bag over. He reaches in to grab a bun, opens his mouth, and is just about to bite into it when a hand clamps around his wrist like a vice. The action makes him freeze in place, and while he's still, Hinata grabs the bun right from his hand and puts it back in the bag.

"What was that for? I was just about to eat!"

"We're not done yet," Hinata sounds very determined. It's a tone Kageyama rarely hears, but when he does, it's always related to volleyball. This time, it has to do with him.

"But the bun is going to get cold!" Kageyama protests. He _smelt_ the flavour just before, and almost melted. He can't believe Hinata is depriving him this, on his birthday of all days.

"That's why we have to be fast! Just," Hinata grabs Kageyama's hand again, "trust me."

"I trust you more than anyone," comes out without thought. Kageyama is shocked by his own words, however he doesn't make any effort to take them back. He means it. Hinata seems to falter in his steps, but recovers almost instantaneously. He doesn't say anything back, although he does squeeze Kageyama's hand.

Their next stop is in front of a row of vending machines. Before Kageyama can even open his mouth to tell Hinata what he wants, the boy has his fingers pressed against the buttons. He's even doing the thing Kageyama does, he has his fingers in a 'V' and presses against two buttons. It's super endearing, and Kageyama finds himself smiling. When Hinata faces him, he jumps back.

"That's not normal."

"What?"

"Your smile. It's not… creepy."

"When has my smile ever been creepy?"

Hinata snorts, but stops immediately when Kageyama's expression doesn't change. "Uh, never! But this is nice, you should smile like this more." Hinata grins too, then, and Kageyama thinks that so long as he's around Hinata, he will.

* * *

For the rest of the afternoon, the boys are back at the same park where they met up in the early hours of the morning. Kageyama immediately goes to the bench, but Hinata doesn't sit beside him right away. Instead, he goes a bit in front, then leans down. For a split second, Kageyama thinks he's going to sit on the ground and is about to yell at him, when Hinata pulls the milk cartons from his pocket and places them in the snow. He must see Kageyama's puzzled look when he stands back up, because he says "it's to cool them!"

"There's barely any snow though," Kageyama argues. The snow that had fallen overnight has mostly melted, and he doesn't want to end up with a soggy carton. Hinata simply shrugs.

"It's the thought that counts."

Hinata then takes his place besides Kageyama, and finally brings the buns back. They're surprisingly still mostly warm, which is lucky, because otherwise Kageyama would've never shut up about it. When he bites into it, he closes his eyes and hums. It's good. Hinata is happily munching next to him, and neither of them really say anything while they eat.

They talk about volleyball for a while afterwards. They discuss strategies they've come up with, and talk about what they imagine the Spring High will be like. Hinata brings up the whole rivalry thing again, but he doesn't sound as fired up as when he first declared he would be the one to beat Kageyama. Kageyama gets it. When Hinata first challenged him, he used it as a motivator. Now, though, he wants to reach the top with Hinata by his side. He can't imagine tossing to someone else like he does with Hinata, and just the thought of Hinata getting a new setter makes him jealous. Oh, how having a crush has mellowed him.

Kageyama could go on discussing volleyball forever, but when the sun starts setting, Hinata decides it's time to do something else. He suddenly goes and lies back on the ground. Kageyama thinks he's crazy, and then he spreads his arms and legs and starts moving them up and down. He's making snow angels. Or, well, Kageyama doesn't know if they can be described as such. Because there's so little snow, once Hinata gets up there's only an imprint shaped like a blob left in his place. He stares at it, confused, and Kageyama bursts out laughing.

"You idiot! Did you really think that would work?"

Hinata sticks his tongue out at him. "You're such a party pooper."

"You're the poop here."

And then Hinata shovels up all the snow he can manage into his hand, and lunges after Kageyama. Once Kageyama realises what's happening, he bolts. There's nowhere for him to go, really, so they're just running after each other in circles. Eventually, they're having a face-off around the slide. Hinata takes the shot, and he's always been faster than Kageyama, so he manages to land a hit on top of Kageyama's head. Kageyama now has snow, water, and dirt dripping down his face, but he doesn't actually care that much. Because Hinata is laughing, and it's a melodic sound to his ears, and it's contagious. He wipes everything away, but then he feels something land on him again. He looks at Hinata, but he's still amidst laughter, which only means one thing.

It's started snowing again. Hinata notices a moment after Kageyama does, and he becomes so excited his eyes shine like stars. He tilts his head up, opens his mouth, and lets the snowflakes land on his tongue. Kageyama holds out his hands, and watches the snow instantly melt when they make contact with his palm.

He thinks the sight would be magical, if he were looking in from someone else's point of view. The two of them stand still under a street light, with the only movement being snow falling. Despite the fact they didn't do anything special today, Kageyama's content. More than, even. He wouldn't have wanted to spend the day any other way, or with anyone else. He thinks, maybe, that this is what leads him to confess. Only Hinata could make him feel this way, and he's tired of keeping that bottled up.

As soon as Kageyama makes that decision, he becomes nervous. He's never done this before. He's never really thought about doing this before. He has no clue what he's doing. His heart is beating loudly in his chest; just the thought of what he's about to do makes him feel like throwing up, and nothing does that, not even playing on centre court. He's invincible, he tells himself, he can do this. He takes in a deep breath, and starts.

"Hinata. Thanks… for today. You really didn't have to do this. I mean, it's not too different from what we usually do, which isn't bad, but you bought me all the things I liked and, well, you… you make me—"

Kageyama suddenly feels warm. So warm. It takes him a moment to regain his senses, and when he does, he realises the heat is concentrated at his lips. He tries to move, but ends up tugging on something, and… that's Hinata. Hinata kissed him. And then he short circuits.

Hinata pulls back, and Kageyama misses the feeling immediately. He's afraid his lack of a reaction sent the wrong message, but Hinata is just watching him with an easy smile. Something tells Kageyama that Hinata knows, that he might've even known before Kageyama. He's still shocked, though. "What?!"

"Oh, you can't tell me you didn't know." Kageyama shakes his head furiously, and Hinata's eyebrows furrow. "Really? You didn't even have an inkling?"

"What? What the hell's an inkling? But never mind that, how would I have known?" Kageyama feels like he's been left out of an inside joke, except he was one of the people who made it. It's all very confusing.

"Um, maybe the name I made for myself in your phone would be a good place to start?"

Kageyama pulls out his phone, and stares at Hinata's contact. It's the same as always. He doesn't get it. When Hinata first took his phone to change it, he wanted to protest, but after he saw what he changed it to, he stopped trying (it was totally not because he also didn't know how to change it back). "That was you trying to tell me?" Because if so, that's the most subtle Hinata has ever been.

"I mean, yeah! But you're the one who kept it!"

"Because it's true!"

Hinata looks at him with this expression he's never seen before. It looks like he's cycling through all these emotions at once, and can't decide which to settle on. In the end, he hits Kageyama square in the chest.

"You can't just say stuff like that!"

"Why not? You'd rather I lie?"

"You're—no. Well, I'm glad you're at least with the program now."

Kageyama hums in agreeance. "So, what now?"

"What do you mean?"

"I've never," Kageyama blushes, "done this before."

"Oh, me neither! But that's okay, isn't it?" Hinata links their pinkies together, "we'll figure it out. Like we always do."

"Yeah," a wave of calm washes over Kageyama, "I guess we will."

They don't stay for much longer; it's suddenly gotten dark, and Kageyama's due home soon. They walk to the crossroads with their fingers interlaced, and Kageyama feels on edge the whole time. He doesn't think he'll get over this. He doesn't want to separate with Hinata either, because this is all very exciting, and the last time he felt this way was when he first started volleyball, and, well… look where he is now.

Hinata tilts his head up expectantly at Kageyama before they part ways, though, and this time Kageyama is able to take the hint. He leans down, and lets their lips meet again. It's soft, like the dough of the buns they ate earlier, like the snow that's falling on their skin, like the way Hinata makes Kageyama feel.

And it's perfect.

* * *

 **A/N:** will I ever stop writing cheesy endings? probably not fdsjkhfkjsfj I'm sorry if it was unbearable at least it's over now?

feel free to leave a comment, they warm my heart (like hin warms kags'? hehe) and keep me going ~

anyways, thank you for reading I hope you liked it!

(my tumblr is tobioshouto if you wanna hmu)


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